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Chapter 1308 Prelude to the General Attack

The day when the United Fleet and the surprise attack team agreed to launch a general offensive finally arrived.

The sky was gloomy, and the waves and wind were stronger than usual. About 40 ships formed a formation off the coast of Algiers.There are no ships catching pirate ships in the nearby waters. Almost the entire western Mediterranean knows that Algiers is blocked by a powerful fleet. Most of the pirates who are not trapped in the port of Algiers have wisely avoided this danger. port.

Shallow-water ships full of soldiers who had landed on the beach came to the forefront of the fleet and formed into scattered formations.

Behind the shallow water gunboats and galleys, there are large galleons and ironclad ships that can fight storms in the Atlantic Ocean, and rows of artillery are aimed at the coastal defense batteries.

Battleships and frigates will provide long-range fire support for the beach landing forces, while shallow water gunboats will fire at the turrets closer to the coast to suppress the cannons on the turrets.

On the shallow-water warship of the Knights of Malta, Grand Master Castella personally put on a half-length knight armor and helmet, holding a musket in his hand.

There are dozens of similar knights around him. Although they are from the ancient knights in the Middle Ages, they have to be equipped with muskets and cannons extensively to adapt to the era when cold weapons are fully transformed into firearms.

"The Ottoman Empire has repeatedly invaded our world. To eliminate the pirates in Algiers is to slap the Ottoman Emperor severely and weaken their influence in the Mediterranean! Moreover, the vicious pirates here have attacked many merchant ships of our Knights, God wants us to punish them!" Castella encouraged many knights.

Perhaps these fanatical believers are inferior to the officers and soldiers of the Fourth Fleet in terms of training and equipment, but they are indeed very pious, or fanatical, and their will to fight may be the highest!
A member of the Knights held an octagonal cross flag. He looked up and saw the hunting flag and the eagle circling in the sky...

On the ironclad ship, Zheng Zhibao held a single-lens brass telescope and looked at the South Fort of Algiers. He could see that there were many hollow artillery pieces with different calibers on the fort.

There are many pirate flags erected on the South Fort, as well as the battle flags of the Ottoman Empire they are loyal to.

"The weather conditions don't seem to be very good, and the waves are bigger than usual, which may have some impact on the beach landing." Zheng Zhibao said.

"As long as it doesn't rain, it will be fine, and the surprise attack team can launch the attack at the appointed time." Sun Xu also closed one eye and used a telescope to observe the pirates with their heads surging on the fort.

The pirates in Algiers have realized that the combined fleet's general attack is about to kick off, and more pirates have been organized to the port for defense.

If it weren't for the existence of the surprise attack team, the two armies would be fighting for the fort in an upright manner.

At least the pirates thought so. Murat Pasha spent a lot of his property to recruit pirates, and let them all be deployed in the port, intending to carry out a tragic defense battle.

Instead of paying 100 million taels of silver to take his own humiliation, he would rather hire 100 pirates with a commission of 1 taels to defend Algiers.If he wins this battle, he will be rewarded by the Emperor of the Ottoman Empire and become a hero of the empire.

"The bastard knights from Malta are here, but our Tunisian and Tripoli pashas dare not even send reinforcements!"

Murat Pasha personally led the guards to the front line to supervise the battle. When he saw the densely packed ships on the opposite side, he couldn't help blaming his fellow pirates who were active in the Western Mediterranean like him.

The Ottoman Empire appointed a few pashas to attack the Western Mediterranean to invade the territories of European countries. Now that Algiers has been blocked for more than a month, the other pashas should have received the news long ago.

However, the United Fleet was assisted by the Knights of Malta, but as defenders they could not see their own reinforcements.

"Probably the pashas in Tunisia and Tripoli were waiting for the empire's instructions. Their fleets came here alone and they just died. They are probably waiting for the navy from Constantinople to arrive and then join them," Amor said.

Murat gritted his teeth, and said to many pirates: "They dared to ask for 100 million taels of silver in compensation before they captured us in Algiers. If they captured us, all our property in Algiers would be destroyed." Looted by them! All will fight to defend Algiers and our property! Every man who kills a head of an infidel will receive from me fifty silver dollars!"

"Fifty Spanish silver dollars!" The pirates at the bottom became restless.

For the low-level pirates who are licking blood on their blades, 50 Spanish silver dollars is a huge fortune!
Because Murat spared no effort to promise a bounty locally, the morale of many pirates who were temporarily pulled to defend the port was greatly boosted!
The two sides are at war, and all the ships of the United Fleet are looking in the direction of the ironclad ship. Once the flagpole of the ironclad ship raises the flag symbolizing the attack, the fleet will launch a general attack.

On the deck of the King of the Seas, Sir Pennington said to the Earl of Stratford: "The troops who landed on the beach this time include the Chinese, the British, and the Knights of Malta. You can see the gap between them through this battle. It depends on who is braver, and I hope that the soldiers we recruit will not lose the face of our Britain."

The Earl of Stratford replied: "I hope that nothing will happen to His Royal Highness, who is in the surprise attack team at this time."

As the agreed time drew closer, the soldiers of the United Fleet in charge of landing on the beach were making final preparations, and the atmosphere was extremely tense.

One after another, the waves crashed against the coast, and the waves became higher and higher, and many beaches were flooded by white waves.

"There is no news from the surprise attack team. We must not miss the timing of the high tide. Let's prepare for the general attack." Sun Xu looked through the binoculars at the urban area of ​​Algiers. Nothing happened there, and the pirates in the port did not panic.

For a surprise attack that lasted hundreds of miles, there was a great possibility that the surprise attack team would get lost and delay time. Now that the United Fleet is sure of capturing the fort, it can win without relying on the surprise attack team to attack the enemy's back.

On the flagpole of the ironclad ship, the offensive flag was raised halfway.

At a suffocating moment, black smoke rose from the west of Algiers, and all the pirates in the port and officers and soldiers of the United Fleet looked in the direction of the billowing black smoke.

"It's so close. It seems that the surprise attack team arrived on time and launched an attack on Algiers. It's time for us to go!" Now Sun Xu and the others did not hesitate, and the flag bearer suddenly raised the banner of the attack to the apex.

More than a dozen ships carrying soldiers were full of sails, and the sailors rowing on some of the galleys struggled to ride the high tide and quickly launched a strong attack on the fort!
(End of this chapter)